The Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation:
The 2004–2005 year rich in challenges and achievements
Gatineau, Quebec, August 18, 2005 — The opening of the new Canadian War Museum, on time and within the set budget, was by far the most challenging feat of the past few years for the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation (CMCC). This opening is one of the many achievements described in the CMCC’s 2004–2005 Annual Report, which was just made public.
The Annual Report gives an overview of the highlights of the past fiscal year for the Corporation, which is made up of the Canadian Museum of Civilization (CMC) and the Canadian War Museum (CWM).
“The accelerated development of the Canadian War Museum was our top corporate priority for the last fiscal year,” said Dr. Victor Rabinovitch, President and CEO of the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation. “The result is an architectural and exhibition masterpiece, designed to present and preserve our remarkable military history collection.”
“As well, at the Canadian Museum of Civilization,” Dr. Rabinovitch added, “our staff continued to produce major innovative exhibitions that spotlight Canadian culture and identity, such as Once in French America and “Rocket” Richard —The Legend, The Legacy.
At the Canadian Children’s Museum, the CMC also designed a series of special exhibitions such as Dream, Wonder and Imagine, which encouraged children to use to artistic talents and imagination. The Canadian Postal Museum, inside the Museum, presented Postage Stamps: Image of a Country, a display of Canadian stamps, many of them masterpiece of portraiture, photography, colour and artistic design.
The President also noted how successful the CMC has been in building collaboration with other museums. During the past year, the Corporation has worked on projects with the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the Glenbow Museum in Calgary and with other institutions in Germany, The Netherlands and China, among others.
Claudette Roy, C.M., Chair of the Board of Trustees of the CMCC, noted that the Canadian Museum of Civilization continued to serve as a showcase of Canada’s history and culture. “In the last year the CMC hosted many prestigious events,” said Ms. Roy, “including the official dinner for the visit to Canada of the President of the United States, George W. Bush.”
The Corporation’s Web site, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2004, continued to log an increase in the number of visits with over 5 million individual sessions. By constantly adding new virtual exhibitions and activities, Civilization.ca is the most comprehensive on-line resource offered by a Canadian museum institution.
The Corporation’s future is solid, despite numerous challenges. Like many other cultural institutions, the Corporation must adjust to the reduction in government funding as well as strong commercial competition from the family leisure sector. Nevertheless, Dr. Rabinovitch remains optimistic since “cultural products, when well presented, continue to attract solid attention and public loyalty.”
Highlights for 2004–2005:- The CMC welcomed a total of 1,270,000 visitors. The Museum’s permanent exhibitions — the Canada Hall, the Canadian Children’s Museum, the Canadian Postal Museum and the First Peoples Hall — all saw their number of visitors increase over the previous year.
- The total revenues generated on-site by the CMC and the CWM amounted to $8.4 million, consistent with goals for the period.
- Ten special exhibitions at the CMC and two at the CWM went on display, while CMC sent nine travelling exhibitions to 19 venues throughout the country.
- More than 56 million pages on the Civilization.ca Web site were consulted. This number has increased steadily over the past five years.
- The IMAX® Theatre attracted 300,000 viewers and presented 14 productions, including Vikings, a large-format film developed in collaboration with Corporation curators.
- The Corporation published 13 new research publications.
- The fundraising campaign of the new Canadian War Museum, Passing the Torch, finished in May; $16.2 million dollars were collected, surpassing the campaign’s goal by $1 million.
A copy of the 2004–2005 Annual Report of the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation can be downloaded from the Corporation’s Web site:
http://www.civilization.ca/societe/rapporte.html
Media Information:
Chief, Media Relations
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Tel.: (819) 776-7167
Media Relations Officer
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Tel.: (819) 776-7169
Fax: (819) 776-7187
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